A Syrian national who lives in Saudi Arabia with a visitor status contacted Saleh al-Humaid, the imam of the Great Mosque of Mecca, to request a fatwa (religious edict) that allows him to marry his wife to a friend so he can bring her to the Saudi kingdom.

The strange request was made to Humaid during the television program Light on the Trail. The man asked the imam if his wife, a Syrian who lives in Syria, can marry his friend who has residency status in the Saudi kingdom in order to help her come to Saudi Arabia after other measures failed, adding that he will later divorce her from him.

The imam refused to issue the fatwa and warned the man of such “dangerous paths” and of resorting to such tricks, which may bring a lot of harm and also affect his relation with his friend and wife.

The imam added that regulations in Saudi Arabia aim to serve public interest.